Aphria to Invest $85 Million to Build Extraction Facility and Expand Cannabis Production Capacity

Aphria Inc. (TSX: APH) (OTC: APHQF) announced this morning that the company has approved a $85M investment to facilitate a number of projects to expand the company’s operations ahead of the legalization of the recreational cannabis industry in Canada.

The first project entered into by the company is to invest $55 million dollars to build a state-of-the-art Extraction Centre of Excellence in Ontario, Canada. The newly constructed facility will be capable of facilitating a wide range of cannabis extractions including C02, butane and ethanol, and is planned to produce world-class cannabis concentrates, including fractionated distillates. The facility is scheduled to release its first concentrates by March 2019 and will be able to process 200,000 kg a year.

In other news with the company, Aphira will approve a $20 million dollar investment to improve technologies at the company’s Diamond facility which will raise the company’s annual output at the facility to 140,000kg. Aphria will also construct a new state-of-the-art greenhouse on an 18 acre property which was acquired late last year as part of its Part V Expansion. After the commencement of these projects the company will capable of producing over 250,000 kgs of medicinal cannabis a year.

Vic Neufeld, CEO of Aphria, have this statement in the press release:

“The Extraction Centre of Excellence will give Aphria a significant competitive advantage in cannabis concentrates, which are expected to be a significant product category. This is the latest example of our continued leadership in cannabis product innovation. Aphria will further its expertise delivering unparalleled innovative products to meet consumer demand. This facility will be the centre of industry-leading R&D and commercial production of next generation cannabis concentrate products.”